Orbitz's Shaughnessy Named Commencement Speaker

Jim Shaughnessy, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Orbitz Worldwide, will speak at Northern’s May 3 commencement. The NMU alumnus will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Shaughnessy joined the global online travel company in June 2007, shortly before Orbitz’s initial public offering. He is responsible for managing global legal affairs, along with the public relations, government affairs, ethics, compliance and security functions.

Prior to his Orbitz appointment, Shaughnessy gained extensive experience with technology companies. He was senior vice president and general counsel for Lenovo Group Ltd., the world’s fourth-largest personal computer company and supplier of most NMU notebook computers. He also served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of PeopleSoft Inc. and in senior legal positions with Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Digital Equipment Corporation. He previously worked with a leveraged buyout group in Portsmouth, N.H., and was in private practice with international law firms in Washington, D.C.

Shaughnessy graduated from NMU in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He received his juris doctorate and a master’s in public policy from the University of Michigan. He lives in Greenwich, Conn., with his wife, Margie (Benesh), a 1974 nursing graduate of NMU. They have four children.